Peggy Jones, later known as Lady Bo, was an innovative and expressive
guitarist who was an original part of Bo Diddley’s sound from 1957 to
1962 and influential in her own songwriting and musical endeavors
thereafter.

Although there is no obituary currently published, a few
hours ago today, Ponderosa Stomp Foundation—an
annual music festival taking place in New Orleans, LA—who hosted Lady
Bo in 2011 announced her death.

A few days prior, husband and bass
player Wally Malone wrote on his Facebook page, “Today is one of the
saddest days of my life. My wife and partner of 47 Years has been called
up to that great rock & roll band in the heavens to be reunited
with Bo Diddley, Jerome Green and Clifton James”.

Peggy Jones played a
pivotal role in rock and roll and remained a main source of inspiration
for hundreds of musicians to follow. Her immense dedication, passion and
talent will forever be remembered and influential in the history of
music.

Black creative geniuses like Sister Rosetta Tharpe is why it hurts me that BLACK PEOPLE think Rock & Roll is “white people music.” We invented all of it. Rock & Roll is so Black that white people drained every drop of Blackness out of it and called what remained Metal. That’s how much Rock & Roll is Black music.

Don’t let white people and their “Elvis created Rock & Roll” nonsense fool you. Rock & Roll IS Black music. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, don’t deny or forget that it’s OURS.

I never knew this

even what is known as metal is derived from Jimi Hendrix

And punk is sourced from a band called Death, who existed 7 years prior to the Ramones

Can’t music just be everyone’s I listen to every type of music I don’t worry about what’s mine and what’s not mine it’s just music man.

In a perfect world, yes. However this is far from a perfect world and when the lie that is perpetuated about your people is that you have not contributed anything of value to this country or to society at large, it’s time to start GRABBING our credit from those who would belittle and erase us.

To quote the great Maya Angelou “I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”

The point was not that music can’t be for everyone, or listened to anyone. The point is that credit should go to where credit is due. The problem is that racism very often leads to white people stealing (whether intentionally or no) the credit for certain things from people of color. Were and are there quite a few influential and innovative white people in rock music? Yes, however, it is important to remember that they were not the ones who invented the genre in the first place, that they were and are merely building upon a black invention.

Metal Divas: Militia, could you tell us what got you into music and describe your early days and journey thus far to be a vocalist?

Militia: I was born to be in music. It’s all I’ve ever given a fuck about. I even sang before I spoke. Initially, I was groomed to be a classical pianist but grew tired of all of the so called rules and “right way”s to be a musician. So I started singing. At first, singing in public terrified me because I hadn’t found my true voice yet but I knew I had it in me. It took time and experience to shape-shift into what I have now and what is now natural for me. I had to harvest my favorite things about singing and grow my vocal strength, stamina and power. It’s been a long hard road with tons of opinions, good and bad gigs and not much support. But I’ve always have some sick drive inside me that’s kept me going because I have always known what I wanted. I advise anyone to do the same. Sometimes you’re the only person standing in your corner, but when you are, you gotta scream even louder and wave your flag higher.

Metal Divas: What is a rule — whether it’s a law, societal standard, or moral code that exists that you think should be broken?

Militia: My self-made mantra is “Disgrace Your Stereotype” – I live my life by this adage. Whenever people try to sum me up by what I appear to be on paper or upon first sight- a female, black, singer, from NYC, etc… some people make assumptions as to who I am, what I’m about or what I should look or sound like based off the stereotypes. I like to shock those people by being the opposite. The things THAT I am don’t define WHO I am and I refuse to be summed up in any way. [Read More]